Conclusion: the price of dropper cards on the black market has jumped several times
The price of dropper cards on the black market has jumped several times: over the year, the increase was 2.5–10 times. On average, they cost about 120 thousand, and the most expensive, "warmed up" by legal operations and with long—term use - 500 thousand. Such prices make them inaccessible. This is the result of the Central Bank's anti-droppery policy. However, there is still a problem, attackers often involve teenagers in their schemes, using their cards for transfers. How much the number of drop operations can be reduced next year is in the Izvestia article.
How the black market of dropper cards works
The prices of droppers' bank cards on the black market have increased several times over the year. Such nominal holders of cards and accounts accept other people's transfers for a fee and help withdraw funds, hiding their origin. With stricter banking compliance and increased criminal risks, such drop cards are becoming more expensive on the black market. High prices have made them practically inaccessible, which leads to an even greater reduction in their use — criminals are starting to use this scheme less often.
Dropper cards have increased in price 5-10 times over the year, said Alexandra Pozharskaya, an expert at the Popular Front project For Borrowers' Rights and the Moshelovka platform. Today they are estimated at 200-500 thousand rubles. The most expensive cards have a high "throughput" — they are "warmed up" by legal transactions and do not arouse suspicion from banks so quickly.
The illegal services of the organizers of money withdrawal schemes, the so-called dropouts, have also become more expensive. Their maximum "rate" last year was 20% of the amount illegally obtained. This year, drop growers require 35-40% of this amount, the expert added.
According to cybersecurity expert Ilya Chuprin, the cost of dropper cards on the black market has tripled in a year. Now it is about 90-120 thousand rubles. This is the average price of "clean" cards — with a transparent history and the ability to serve for weeks without blocking, he noted.
Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, named a similar price for the prohibited product. However, in one or two years, the price can be expected to rise by another 2.5 times, she noted. Last year, droppers began to put their risks into the price of goods, the analyst noted.
"The rising cost of such cards suggests that it is becoming increasingly difficult for intruders to perform such operations, and a significant part of respectable Russians do not allow themselves to be deceived and drawn into fraudulent schemes," Natalia Milchakova summarized.
The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said at the Cybersecurity in Finance forum in February that the cost of such cards on the black market had increased several times to 70 thousand rubles. To date, their cost has already amounted to 100-120 thousand rubles, said Alexander Bleznekov, head of the information technology department of the Telecom Exchange.
Cash withdrawal services have become two to three times more expensive compared to last year. Against this background, dropper activity will continue to fall, Kaspersky Lab chief expert Sergey Golovanov expects.
Izvestia also appealed to banks for an assessment of the results of the fight against droppers.
Banks also take control of the unjustified movement of money through individuals' cards, said the chief lawyer of the Kontur product group.Aegis" and Staffcop, legal expert in information security Olga Popova. Such monitoring does not allow fraudsters to use the cards for a long time, she added.
Large banks suspend about 330 thousand monthly transfers to banking details from the database of fraudulent transactions, the press service of the Central Bank told Izvestia. The number of suspicious transactions reported by customers has decreased significantly. After the details of the attacker's payment card are entered into the database of the Central Bank, the transaction activity on them is reduced by 40 times. The regulator added that, if necessary, additional measures will be taken to counteract dropper activity.
Why are prices for dropper cards rising?
The trend towards increasing the cost of dropper cards has a pronounced tendency, says Vladimir Ulyanov, head of the analytical center at Zecurion. According to him, this is due to the increased responsibility of fraudsters and the growing concern of people in connection with data leaks.
The authorities have stepped up their fight against droppage this year. In the spring, the Bank of Russia introduced restrictions against this category of intruders. Since May 15, limits on transfers above 100 thousand rubles per month have been in effect for customers of credit institutions included in the so-called dropper database of the regulator.
The Central Bank maintains a special database that contains information about droppers. It is formed on the basis of information from banks about all cases and attempts of fraud. That is, if a person informed a credit institution that he had sent a transfer under the influence of intruders, and as a result the money was stolen, the recipient's account would end up in the regulator's database. If a bona fide user is still on the blacklist and his access to online services is restricted or a ban on transfers of more than 100,000 rubles per month is imposed, he can appeal this decision. To do this, you need to apply to the bank where the client has an account.
The introduction of the measure has led to a shortage of offers on the black market for the sale of "dropper kits", which include a copy of the bank's customer's passport, his account and a SIM card. A few weeks later, such services reappeared, but their cost increased significantly.
Since July 5, criminal liability has also been introduced for droppers. The criminal faces a fine of 300 thousand rubles, as well as up to three years in prison for a one-time transfer of a card or access to electronic wallets and for transfers and withdrawals of stolen money. For organizing such schemes, the punishment can reach six years in prison or a fine of up to 1 million rubles.
Izvestia also sent a request to the Interior Ministry with a request to clarify how many cases of droppage were recorded in the third quarter of 2025.
How droppers cheat teenagers
Bona fide citizens can also be involved in dropper schemes "blindly," said Maria Bakakina, adviser to the criminal law practice at Sokolov, Trusov and Partners. To avoid this, you cannot transfer your cards to third parties. Also, you should not respond to suspicious remote work vacancies.
Attackers are often attracted to schemes with money withdrawal through dropper cards of teenagers. They may not even suspect that they are committing illegal acts. As the source told Izvestia, her son was dragged into such a fraud. The scammers used his card for transfers. Relatively few funds have passed through it — about 15 thousand rubles.
— I found a receipt from a certain young man in which he confirmed that he was renting my child's bank card and would pay him 2 thousand rubles each week. We found out that the organizers of the scheme had changed access to the bank's personal account and the phone number linked to the card," Olga Popova shared.
After it became clear, the card was blocked, and the police began checking. The organizer was found and brought in, but the punishment turned out to be lenient.
When such schemes with minors began to be actively covered, the criminals realized that this "source" was drying up, said Olga Popova from Kontur.Aegis."
By the end of the year, a further drop in demand for drop services is expected, approximately by 15-20%, said Ivan Goryachev, manager of the Servicepipe educational project. According to him, this will happen due to the expansion of the exchange of "signals" between banks and the telecom operator, as well as a tougher approach to repeated violations.
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